Swimming in a Shallow (Jury) Pool

Anybody wondering why big companies prefer to try cases in their home jurisdictions might give a call to Merck. In today’s WSJ, Heather Won Tesoriero (aka “Co-Counsel”) tells the story today of a recent Vioxx trial held in state court in Rio Grande City, Texas, a dusty border town of 12,000.

When Jose Rios was being considered for a jury last January, he was asked if he knew the plaintiff: the widow of a man who had died after taking Vioxx.

Rios, answered “yes,” as did many of the jurors chosen for the trial. But Rios didn’t say that over the years, he’d borrowed more than $5,000 from the widow, Felicia Garza. In April, Mr. Rios and 11 other jurors found Merck liable for Leonel Garza’s heart attack and awarded Ms. Garza $32 million. Now, after obtaining Mr. Rios’s admission about the borrowed money in a deposition, Merck has asked the court to allow it to delve further into the relationship between the plaintiff and the juror.

The problems now unfolding in Rio Grande City, write Won Tesoriero, illustrate the unpredictable turns that litigation can take when the fates of large companies are decided in small-town courts.

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The Law Blog covers the legal arena’s hot cases, emerging trends and big personalities. It’s brought to you by lead writer Jacob Gershman with contributions from across The Wall Street Journal’s staff. Jacob comes here after more than half a decade covering the bare-knuckle politics of New York State. His inside-the-room reporting left him steeped in legal and regulatory issues that continue to grab headlines.

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